Picasso in the North Country

A Picasso in the North Country:The Wild Journey of Canadian Artist, Norval Morrisseau
Canadian First Nation Arts from Northern Ontario

James R Stevens

An honest and revealing book about Noval Morrisseau written by James R. Stevens and authorized by the Artist, Norval Morrisseau.

The brilliant and wild painting journey of Canadian artist, Norval Morrisseau is an epic in the international world of art. Norval painted at least 10 000 images during a 45 year career marked by alcoholism and addiction. Norval was an intelligent complex man caught between an ancient forest world and a westernized industrial America. He was unschooled and born into poverty at a small hamlet on the shore of Lake Nipigon in Canada during the Great Depression of the 1930's. The odds that he would survive childhood were against him. He overcame huge obstacles in his path to command respect from all artist. His fascinating story as a painter of abandon will amuse and fluster readers as he rides his tsunami wave to fame.

One of the best coffee table books ever published in Thunder Bay. Full of colour plates and lots of interesting facts, A Picasso in the North Country: The Wild Journey of Canadian Artist Norval Morrisseau, by local author James Stevens,

The book not only covers Morrisseau's life but describes the recent surge in interest in the paintings as well as the surge of fakes hitting e bay and Kijiji all over the country. Stevens notes that Morrisseau's "legacy is being tainted" by the forgeries.

Stevens, who has just been nominated for the 2012 Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts, has always focused his writing on local history.